NBA Rumors: Chicago Bulls star hints rebuild in on horizon for franchise
NBA Rumors: It appears that some big changes could be ahead for the Chicago Bulls as they enter the “last dance” for this core.
Over the last couple of seasons, you can make the argument that there hasn’t been a more disappointing team in the NBA than the Chicago Bulls. They assembled a strong core around Zach LaVine a couple of offseasons ago in an attempt to be a dark horse contender in the Eastern Conference.
Their contender status lasted about half a season before it all fell apart for Chicago. Heading into the 2023-24 NBA season, the only question surrounding the Bulls revolves around when they’re going to pivot toward the rebuild.
Recently re-signed Nikola Vucevic knows that changes could be on the horizon for the Bulls, and hinted at that in an interview. In fact, he told Jake Fischer that there’s a feeling around the team that this year is somewhat of a “last dance” for this core.
How much change is on the horizon for the Chicago Bulls?
Assuming Vucevic is accurate with his estimation, this would be far from exciting. With the way their books stand, it would make sense for this to be somewhat of a “last dance” for this core before some sort of retooling or rebuilding takes place. And that falls in line with the reports that came out during the offseason that indicated Chicago was quietly gauging the trade interest of LaVine around the league.
If nothing else, it gives the Bulls a heads up of what a potential rebuild will look like.
DeMar DeRozan has an expiring contract after this season and Lonzo Ball can opt out of the final year of his contract after this season too. It would be extremely surprising for Ball to opt out, but as an expiring contract next season, there’s a good chance he will become a much more tradable player.
If Chicago does move on from both of those players, it will give them the option to retool around LaVine. If they wanted to completely lean into it, they could theoretically jump-start a rebuild by trading LaVine next summer too.
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The future of the Bulls is very much in the air and it’s hard to know what to expect from them this season, but it’s becoming more and more clear that there are some changes ahead for this franchise. The big question is, will those changes include a full-blow rebuild or simply a retooling?